Take Me home, Country Roads

When trash coal is set on fire it turns rose and orange and lavender. What’s left is called red dog. The road where Drema grew up, in East Beckley, West Virginia was a red dog road. In her new book, Running on Red Dog Road: And Other Perils of An Appalachian Childhood, Drema Hall Berkheimer recalls life with her grandparents. They were devout Pentecostals. Her father was killed in a coal mining accident, and her mother was working in a war plant in New York. Drema writes about everyday life, carefully blending sweet memories with crazy characters and Appalachian charm. If you wish to meet faith healers, gypsies,or snake handlers please pick up this book. DB  

What's that sound?

Alex Bledsoe has written another book about the Tufa, a mysterious ancient race of people that live in isolated ridges and hollows of the Smoky Mountains. Wisp of a Thing is set in the same sometimes sinister landscape of Appalachia as was The Hum and the Shiver. The story starts out as a grieving musician finds his way to Cloud County, Tennessee in pursuit of a song that will ease his broken heart. His girlfriend has died tragically in a plane crash and a mysterious figure appeared to him and told him the story about the song. Rob finds both music and mystery in the mountains. Close-lipped locals guard their secrets, even as Rob gets caught up in a subtle power struggle he can't begin to comprehend. A vacationing wife goes missing, raising suspicions of foul play, and a strange feral girl runs wild in the woods, howling in the night like a lost spirit.Change is coming to Cloud County, and only the night wind knows what part Rob will play when the last leaf falls from the Widow's Tree. For readers who like a little magic with their stories! ML

Southern Coming of Age

Velva Jean Learns to Drive is the story of a young Appalachian girl growing up in the 30's. It's a fascinating read about the mountain life of Appalachia, with richly portrayed characters that are so interesting you won't want to put this book down. Velva Jean's secret dream as a young girl is to sing at the Grand Ol' Opry but you'll see that Appalachia in the 30s and 40s is not an easy place to live and not all of life's choices are your own.